


Suddenly Santa

by Commonswift



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Break Up, Christmas Crack, F/F, Mental Instability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28277892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Commonswift/pseuds/Commonswift
Summary: Cassandra crashed on Eugene's birthday party to deliver a gift.A secret Santa gift for an user on discord.
Relationships: Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: Cassunzel Gift Exchange 2020





	Suddenly Santa

**Author's Note:**

> Keep an open mind  
> XD

**Coal**

Near a river and behold a rope bridge was a decrepit cottage with a broken water mill.

It had been two full decades before anyone had ever stepped inside it or disturbed the grass around it with a foot, hoof or paw, but now in the dead of the night with no one to witness it but the stars, the small shape of a snowflake glowed on it's surface and started expanding.

It grew and grew till it was big enough for a carriage to park on it with space to spare.

The Northern lights shinned through the previously white snowflake and shapes emerged from it, then it was dark again.

The snowflake was completely gone and with it the Northern lights, but the shapes had remained.

A woman figure with the cyan glow of an opal in the upper part of her chest sitting on patch of snow that wasn't here before and eight calves all handled to her as they would with their mother.

One of them sporting a bright red nose, a beacon in the dark.

* * *

Sometime later

* * *

"Well I think at the least of one wish I would like to have come true, in the very near future" Eugene was just about to blow the candles off his birthday's cake, when the doors leading to his joyful party were kicked open and a strong wind stole his thunder making all candles and torches extinguish before a single breath could escape his lips.

"Ho HO HO!"

All eyes turned to the entrance, a collection of gasps both surprised and fearful echoed in the room

"Cassandra?!" Rapunzel called out seeing her former handmaiden standing here, but hers was a concerned call.

Cassandra had changed since the last time she had seen her, her black rock armor had turned to red, the previously blue parts to silver.

A wide crazed grin was splitting her face in two, her eyes wide and her pupils reduced to pins, a jarring change from Cassandra usually calm and collected self.

"The Moonstone, it made her mad!" King Edmund had commented, unknown on whatever he meant to say it or not.

"Ah Your Majesty, I think I was a bit loopy even before" Cassandra had commented lightly before adding "where is the birthday boy?" an battleaxe found its way to her neck

"Stay away from my son!" she rolled her eyes at the act as giggles escaped her lips.

She didn't have the Shadow blade on her, just a green sack.

Eugene, who had froze in place upon seeing what had become of the woman he used to see as a sister, got out of his shock, but not fast enough to stop Rapunzel.

"Alright, no need to get violent!" the Princess had put herself between King Edmund and Cassandra, quietly hushing her behind her back in a protective stance and put distance from the Mad King before turning and giving her a tentative smile, her hands itching to grab hers but she thought better of it

"Cassandra where have you been? It has been months" she asked carefully instead

"You know just hanging out in my Mother's old cottage, took a while to fix it up" the Moonstone wielder casually responded

"You were in Corona!?" Rapunzel couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief.

"Yep about two months, why is it a problem?" Cassandra grew defensive, her voice becoming hard

"No, No, you are always welcome" she was quick to clarify her arms flying in negative gesture as if to drive home the fact that it wasn't a problem at all "as matter of fact Corona is your home and no one must bother you" she subtly put Cassandra under her direct protection "I-it's just it would have been nice to know, I was worried about you"

"I was busy, I only had moment to pay a visit now" the former handmaiden answered with dismissal, not wanting to go into details.

"Doing what? Scaring children in the woods?" Eugene chimed in, his voice hostile as he glared her

"Oh there you are!" Cassandra just showed in his arms a wrapped gift from that sack of hers and handled another to Rapunzel, completely ignoring his question

"Well I am done here, enjoy your party I got more important stuff to do" she turned to leave, "Wait!" but Rapunzel grabbed on her wrist.

The change was instantaneous.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU ANYMORE" Cassandra had yelled out in fury ripping out her wrist from the Princess's hands, her body turning rigid and tense closely resembling a threatened animal

"I-I am sorry! It’s okay you can leave, it wasn't an order, I j-just" Rapunzel was quick to raise her hands as if to show her she meant no harm

"You just?" Cassandra voice came cautious as if she were trying to understand if there was a danger to her former friend's words, who in turn was trying to think of an excuse as she looked around half panicked till her eyes settled on the perfect one.

"I...I...I thought you wanted a piece of cake...before you go" the princess gestured to the cake with a smile, Cassandra watched it in silence as if considering the option relaxing a little

"No, thank you I am not hungry now" she responded then started marching to the exit

"It's okay maybe we can see each other for lunch sometime?" Rapunzel's voice stopped her, she turned to glance at her with a glare "if you want to of course!" the addition of a choice turned the glare into a small frown, a small conflict playing on her face

"Fine, drop by when you want" she turned towards her father with a glare “I am sure the Captain of the guards can give you directions"

"Cassandra...""I don't want to talk with you" she cut him off before he even had the chance to say anything to her and continued her leave

Only to be interrupted at the door

"Hey CassANDra, what's this supposed to mean?!" she turned with a small smile and a teasing look, suspecting what it was about, she looked like her normal self

"Don't sweat it Fitzherbert, it's just sugar" Eugene was holding up his opened up gift, showing what looked like a box full of coal "Happy Birthday"

Cassandra closed the door behind her and finally left.

People murmured among themselves not knowing what to make of the encounter, but they all agreed on one thing she was unhinged and possibly dangerous due to the Moonstone.

She had to be locked up.

"Alright everyone, I know Cassandra might have looked a little...upset, but yelling at me is not a crime and neither is giving gifts, also she didn't summon any rock despite being mad and didn't do anything in two full months, so please give her the benefit of the doubt" Rapunzel tried to ease the crowd

"I don't know Blondie, she gave me coal and tried to trick me into eating it with a lie" Eugene said eying his gift with suspicion, the Princess gave him a look as the panicked murmurs sparked again then took one small block of coal from his box and swallowed it whole.

She smiled as the saccharine taste hit her tongue

"Sorry Eugene, unless coal tastes like sugar, Cass didn't lie to you" Rapunzel was smug to inform him, and before he could accuse her of lying for former friend Lance grabbed a handful of 'coal' and showed it in his mouth

"Mhhh it is sugar!" Lance exclaimed between loud crunchy bites.

The fact Cassandra's gift to Eugene seemed harmless eased the crowd, but Eugene stayed distrustful his whole life in the street having shaped him to distrust when it came with betrayals.

"You didn't open yours" he pointed out, Rapunzel glance to the gift she had left on the floor when she reached out to Cassandra.

"You are right I forgot!" she was optimistic about it as she picked it up, it was more rectangular shaped then Eugene's, she opened it and found an very old book in her hands.

"Well Cassandra knows I like reading!" she played it off to keep the citizens at ease, even if she suspected Cassandra has a reason to give this to her, but now it wasn't the time "So let's light up those torches and keep the party going!" they cheered, the previous joyful mod restored to most of them.

Eugene kept a sour look on his face for the rest of the day.

The Captain and the two Kings were troubled.

Rapunzel didn't put down the book Cassandra gave her even for a single second.

**Heartbreak**

A tense discussion was taking place in the throne room, which was closed off for privacy.

King Frederic and Arianna were sitting on their thrones their Captain of the Guards argued with King Edmund and Eugene

"She has the Moonstone, she's dangerous, clearly deranged and must be taken down!" Edmund had said completely

"I won't let you hunt her down like an animal when she did nothing to get such treatment!" the Captain shouted out

"She attacked us with the Red rocks! I am sorry but as long she has the Moonstone she's going to be a treat to Corona, we must prepare to subdue her before she strikes so please tell us where is this Cottage she was talking about" Eugene tried to make him reason with a gentler but still urgent tone

"The Princess had said it was an accident, I am not moving an inch against my daughter if she didn't commit any crimes in Corona" the Captain was irremovable on such matter

"That's it!" Eugene exclaimed pointing his finger to the Captain "She's your daughter! That’s why you won't act! You’re judgment is severely compromised!"

"How dare you? I am following the law!" he took offense of such accusation even if it wasn't far off from the truth, unless he was forced he wasn't going to lead an attack against his little girl "maybe if you weren't so insecure about your relationship with the Princess you wouldn't be so eager to get rid of my daughter!"

"Enough!" King Frederic put an end to their argument, three sets of eyes snapped to him

"King Edmund, while Cassandra did commit crimes in your land, I am afraid the Dark Kingdom as of late doesn't hold any legal weight since it's been dissolved and is as such a lawless unclaimed land" he spoke as a matter of fact and the Dark Kingdom - _former_ \- King knew full well it was the truth, no matter how much he liked to pretend he was still a King.

He lost such title when he evacuated the Kingdom and abandoned his people to stand guard to the Moonstone.

"Captain, I trust you will uphold the law if needed, but in the meantime tell the guards to keep an eye on Cassandra should she leave the premise of her cottage just in case" Frederic gently said to his Captain, fully understanding his stance on the matter and as reluctant to take action when it wasn't needed.

He didn't want to repeat a Varian if he could help it.

"Eugene, while Cassandra is suspected of attacking Corona with the Red rocks, there isn't any airtight proof of such thing" of course the former thief didn't take it well

"Proof? She’s the one with the Moonstone, who else could have done it?!" he instantly protested

"Statements from your other travelling companions tell me Cassandra didn't have fully control over the Moonstone, and Rapunzel vouched for her, so it isn't out of the possibility the Moonstone itself had acted by itself" the last thing he wanted was to provoke Cassandra into attacking them for real, he hoped Eugene would get it and backed off.

"This is another reason to take it away from her!" Frederic was too hopeful

"Eugene, excluding the Red rocks accident the Black rocks have stopped advancing on Corona, Cassandra has got them under control and I won't risk those rocks levelling my Kingdom if I have an alternative" He tried to be as clear as possible on his stance on the matter

"So you are letting her off the hook in fear she destroys Corona?" it was apparent the young man before him didn't want to see reason and was only thinking with his heart, he wasn't blind he had lost count of how many times Rapunzel and Eugene argued over Cassandra in the last months.

He could see it in his daughter's eyes that there was something more than friendship when she talked about Cassandra.

He wasn't the only one to notice and Eugene had noticed it too.

He just didn't want to believe it.

Frederic felt sorry for him.

"I am not risking the lives of my whole Kingdom because you feel threatened"

"You are seriously letting her free to be a menace and attack Rapunzel?" he crossed a line

"Eugene, Cassandra never expressed such desire and she had been living in peace at her cottage for two whole months, as my daughter said she earned the benefit of the doubt" Queen Arianna had responded in a scolding tone before Frederic would intervene, just on clue Rapunzel entered the throne room holding out the book Cassandra gifted her in excitement, Varian trailing behind her with a full smile

"Oh you are all here! Perfect!" she had exclaimed blissfully unaware of what they were discussing "Cassandra found a way to separate me from the Sundrop! Now we can reunite the stones risk free!" She opened the book on said method and pointed to a passage "See right here the Sundrop will emerge from any organic hosts during a solar eclipse" "which I calculated will happen in a month time!" Varian chimed proudly showing his calculations

"Blondie can't you see it? Cassandra wants to steal the Sundrop from you!" Eugene exclaimed, his face paling over the news

"Cassandra doesn't want the Sundrop" there wasn't a trance of doubt in Rapunzel's voice

"We didn't even think she wanted the Moonstone" he pointed out, but he was quickly dismissed

"It doesn't matter, she came back" the Princess was quick to answer and the former thief was just as fast to fire back

"She didn't even tell us she was back" she could have been plotting to take us all down, that's what he wanted to say, but he couldn't be that brutal.

"Eugene what are you trying to say?" the Sundrop's host really didn't know what her boyfriend was getting at, he was doing that thing where he would soften the blow to not upset her as if she was some kind of porcelain doll ready to break.

She always preferred Cassandra's ruthless approach.

"That she's playing you like a fiddle without even trying!" he blundered out frustrated that she couldn't see how much Cassandra was using her hope to stab her in the back...again.

Rapunzel confused glance turned into an angry glare

"I can't believe you, our friend returned home, she even gave us the means to resolve this whole nightmare peacefully and this is how you repay her? With blind distrust and accusations?" she was scolding him

"Rapunzel you don't understand, this is just too good to be true, Cassandra is here to trick you again!" in his whole life experience he knew that once someone betrayed you there was no turning back

"You know what Eugene, I am tired of people telling me I don't understand, I am not that girl in the tower anymore and I am not so stupid I can't form my own opinion!"

"That's not what I meant" why couldn't she see he was just looking out for her, they didn't need Cassandra

"It doesn't matter what you meant, all I see is Cassandra clearly needing help and you accusing her instead of trying to help her out" Rapunzel looked down taking out a small box outside a pocket of her dress and handled it to him

"Rapunzel is that?" Eugene face lighted up, making the princess uncomfortable for what she was about to do

"It was...I am sorry"

"...What do you mean?" why would she apologize for finally accepting to marry him?

"I really thought I was ready to marry you and live happily ever after like everyone expected of me despite my own doubts...but you just proved me it would be a big mistake" it's okay, she was just confused, she wasn't really saying what he thought she was saying.

"It's okay I will ask you the next time, when this whole mess blows over" that's it one more chance, they can work this out.

"I am so s-sorry" tears run down her cheeks "there won't be a next time"

"No, we just had an argument; you can't break up our bond over a single argument!"

"You didn't even notice how often we argued" Rapunzel stopped herself from arguing with him again, took a deep breath then told him with calmer tone "Eugene, I didn't even know what love was when I meet you"

"But you are my dream" this wasn't happening, it can't be happening

"...I am sorry, I never wanted to hurt you this way, this is why I tried to make it work but I can't...not after" she tried to explain but hesitated

"Not after?" he had his suspicions, but he needed her to say it

"You don't need to know"

"Given you are breaking up with me over it, I say I have any right to know"

"...remember when I lost my memory?" a curt nod "I ended up kissing Cassandra"

"What!?" he knew it, Cassandra had something to do with this, she ruined them, she ruined everything

"It wasn't her fault, I felt a pull and just did it, it was just a quick peck" the frown on Eugene's face told her she had to elaborate more "The thing is, I never had any experience with romantic love before and didn't know what I was supposed to, but that memory wand gave me a chance, a new experience to finally figure out my feelings and why I can't say yes" that's it, she finally told him, she hoped this was enough to make him understand, they can still be friends

"Wait, let me guess, are you trying to tell me you are in love with Cassandra?" it wasn't enough, he still wanted more then she felt comfortable to give.

"I am s..." "Stop apologizing and answer the question" Eugene wanted to hear the whole story, she owned him the full picture.

"I never felt so strongly with you" even if it shattered his heart and ego in pieces, he turned and left, there was nothing more to say.

He felt a fool for believing a dream was real.

"Eugene? Where are you going?"

"To pack my things" Rapunzel didn't want him to leave, she still loved him as a dear friend and he was the one to save her from that tower

"You don't need to" "Yes I do! You really thought I would want to live here after you made a fool out of me" he felt as if she played around with his heart, giving him false hope, making him believe he finally had reached his happy ending

"I didn't mean to" "I know, but that just makes it worse" he also hated that he couldn't blame her, it wasn't her fault she didn't feel the same and she was still too socially dense to understand what she did to him

"I don't know if she loves me back!" she had hoped him knowing that would ease his pain, but it was actually the worst thing she could say.

"Thank you Sunshine the knowledge I was just a spare toy to you makes everything so much better!" he stormed away before he did something he would regret.

King Edmund gave Rapunzel a glare and followed his son as Queen Arianna and King Frederic went to support their daughter.

* * *

King Edmund and his son started their journey back to the Dark Kingdom that very night.

* * *

**Lunch**

Rapunzel riding Fidella in the woods, an huge picnic basket secured on the saddle, despite her break up with Eugene she was happy.

She didn't like how it ended, and he will be a sore spot for a long time, but she was going to Cassandra.

The Captain had told her how to reach the cottage.

The Princess couldn't help but be nervous, Cassandra still had issues and she doubted being covered in Red rocks was doing wonders to her; she had to be careful and patient around her.

She reminded herself what set Cassandra off previously.

Nothing that could interpreted as an order.

No touching even if all she wanted to do was hug her for a week.

Don't say the word wait.

Rapunzel figured out Cassandra needed to feel in control, giving her the choice on having this lunch had calmed her down.

She was also painfully aware that as long as Cassandra was under the Moonstone's influence she couldn't confess her feelings, which wasn't necessary a bad thing, more like a good excuse to keep her feelings for herself.

While her heart ached to let Cassandra know how much she meant to her, Rapunzel was also so afraid of being rejected.

It was okay, she had time to plan the perfect confession at a later date, but now she mustn't think about herself.

Cassandra needed her, it was time to put her first.

That's why she brought Fidella along instead of coming alone, she knew Cassandra would enjoy having her horse around.

It didn't take long for them to arrive to their destination

"Strange, the Captain had said it was a rope bridge" Rapunzel wondered out loud as Fidella's hooves passed over a solid wood bridge, wide enough for a carriage to pass on smoothly.

The cottage looked almost brand new, and the Princess was starting to wonder if she didn't make a wrong turn somewhere

"Cass?!" she called out before getting too close, Cassandra wouldn't appreciated it if she came in unannounced, even if she wasn't sure to she would get an answer.

"I am in the back!" dismounting Fidella, Rapunzel walked toward the back of the house froze in place, openly gaping at the sight.

Nothing could have prepared her for this.

Cassandra was sitting on a stool several little reindeers crowding around her, she was feeding one of them with a baby bottle.

Rapunzel could tell this Cassandra was different from the one at the party, she was at ease and pretty much like her normal self, if we ignore the Red rock armor and the blue hair.

Not a corned animal.

"Cass?" Rapunzel called out for her again with a smile that slightly dimmed when Cassandra turned her eyes on her and grew tense

"Rapunzel, you will have to wait I am not done yet"

"it's okay, I-I will just sit over there!" the Princess sat down on the ground and was content to watch her keep feeding the baby reindeers, committing the scene to memory so that it will turn into a beautiful painting later.

"They do eat solid food, but they still need some milk as well" Cassandra commented without pausing from her task or looking at her guest, Rapunzel let her talk afraid any of the questions she wanted to ask would end up upsetting her.

Cassandra didn't seem to mind, she just kept talking about her reindeers, soon the princess knew the one with the red nose was called Reindeer, the one with a white patch on the chest was Rein, then there was Reiner, Deer, Renna, Rentier, Renne, Reno.

Rapunzel held a laugh as she noticed Cassandra had named them all either with a derivation from the word reindeer, a similar sounding name, or reindeer in a different languages.

"Alright I am done, let's get this over with" Cassandra declared as she rose up, but not without scratching Renne's ear first.

Rapunzel got on her feet as Cassandra walked over to her with hesitation and clear wariness, she was still better then how she was at the party but the easiness she had while tending for the reindeers was gone.

Fidella let out a neigh to catch her attention and her face softened once more

"Hey girl" she had said as she let out an hand to pet the horse's muzzle, Fidella leaned to her touch despite it feeling way colder and unnaturally smooth then what she's used to.

Soon Cassandra ended up burying her face into the mare's shoulder.

They both missed each other.

"...did you happen to see Owl?" the question caught Rapunzel off guard, she didn't know how to answer without upsetting Cassandra, but settled on telling the truth when she gave her a look

"yes, I have seen him around"

"...Was he okay?"

"Yes, sometimes he passes by the castle...but he's always a bit grumpy"

"...try giving him some bacon strips, he loves these" she had said then she warned in a serious tone "but not too many and only once in a while, they aren't good for him"

"I can see him going towards your room and waiting...I think he just misses you" Rapunzel knew she was taking a risk in telling her, there was no way of knowing how she would react.

"He left me" Cassandra leaned her forehead into Fidella's shoulder, effectively hiding her face "I know I wasn't making any sense and I am still not fine, but he left me" she was neither angry or sad, just defeated.

It pulled on Rapunzel's heart strings

"Hey, it's just the red rocks, they can make you see...stuff" Cassandra probably didn't know and she hoped such knowledge would make her feel better "Everything will be fine once we get rid of the Moonstone"

"I started seeing things before the Moonstone" Cassandra's admission shattered Rapunzel's optimism as she elaborated "back to the shell house, there was a ghost, she's the one that showed me...then when I had the Moonstone she appeared again, the nightmare started...she kept telling me I had to...I was unstable...I attacked father and Owl left me, then she was gone, my armor turned red and he appeared...he told me I was chosen and that's the moment I knew I was totally insane"

"Who was he? What did he tell you?" Rapunzel had to know, what if it was another disciple of Zhan Tiri, she found it pretty weird Cassandra started seeing stuff at the shell house "I swear I won't even comment on it and you don't even have to answer me if you don't want to" she had added in a haste as Cassandra turned to her with a warning glare.

A moment of silence passed.

"St. Nicolas went to me and told me I was the next Santa Clause" she told Rapunzel without missing a beat, her face totally serious.

Rapunzel didn't even know what to say about that and it showed.

"I told you I was crazy" her told you so comment snapped the Princess out of her shock

"I don't care, even if you are, I don't ever want to leave you, I love you so much I wouldn't care if you told me you were Zhan Tiri!" she said firmly and hugged Cassandra out of reflex before realizing what she did and stepping away

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot you didn't..." the words went lost in her throat as Cassandra lunched forward and kissed her, Rapunzel reciprocated without thinking twice.

Neither wanted the kiss to stop, but they both needed to breath.

The moment they separated Cassandra gave her a bear hug and busted crying in her shoulder.

Rapunzel hugged her back and started crying as well.

**The Eclipse**

The Month to the Eclipse passed in a breeze, Rapunzel would bring lunch to Cassandra every day and while the Moonstone host still had her bad moments, she never did worse then yell at the princess.

Regardless, Cassandra and Rapunzel's relationship just grew from here even if the Princess, upon the former handmaiden's request, was to only come to the cottage for lunch, at the least until the Sundrop and Moonstone business was resolved.

Once Owl knew Cassandra was he went to her and it was as if they never separated, Fidella had decided to quit the guard and go live at the cottage as well, she helped out with taking care of the reindeers acting as a second mother figure.

The horse had noticed the red nose of Reindeer glowed bright once the night fell, her and the Owl doubted their human friend was as crazy as she thought herself to be.

There was something about those reindeers that wasn't entirely natural, they didn't know if they were actually a danger so they kept watch, ready to act in case Cassandra was endangered by them, even if it was hard to think of such lovely animals as a danger especially given how much good they have been in restoring Cassandra's peace of mind, without out them the duo feared Cassandra would have come back to Corona in much less peaceful terms.

It was time, the Eclipse was upon them, Rapunzel had gently guided Cassandra to Corona's capital.

Cassandra had never left her cottage during the last month and she could feel herself starting to lose control at the feeling of so many people looking at her.

She thought she would lose it when she noticed the unusual number of guards all focused in her direction.

Her face was starting to twist into an unhealthy smile and giggles were forming in her throat.

She regained control with a simple gentle kiss on the lips.

Nobody else existed but Rapunzel.

She focused solely on the woman wrapped on her, totally ignoring the any other words given to her except the ones from the Princess's mouth.

It was the only way to not lose it, for the unbearable surge of anger, sadness and grief to take over her.

Rapunzel understood and did her best to anchor her.

While the Princess hoped Cassandra would be better once that dreadful Moonstone was out of her chest, she stood true to her words.

She was never going to leave her, regardless of what happened today.

The Eclipse had run it's course

The stones were finally reunited as one and left this Earth for the cosmos.

They didn't even need find a way to push them together, they did so by themselves once they were removed from their chest.

The resulting shock wave took them by surprise, but besides taking a fall no one was badly hurt.

* * *

Cassandra pushed herself to her feet with a groan, holding out a hand to help Rapunzel stand up as well.

"Thank you...Cass!?" the princess alarmed tone made her pause

"what's wrong? do I still have blue hair!?" Cassandra checked and was glad to see her hair was back to normal, but that's when she noticed she was wearing red gloves "What the?" she looked to herself up and down and was astonished to find she was dressed almost in the typical way Santa Clause was pictured all over world, except her version was more a battle variant of the classic and missing the hat.

Cassandra's face fell as she realized her delusions were getting worse

"Cass I see it too! as can everyone else" Rapunzel pointed out snapping her out of her thoughts

"You can?" she carefully asked as she looked from Rapunzel, who simply nodded in response, to the crowd around them, to her relief she found the previously overwhelming feelings were missing.

She could still feel them, but they weren't unbearable.

"Why is she dressed as if Santa Clause enlisted to war?" the child she knows as Angry had exclaimed

"Shh!" Lance had picked up the child and clasped an hand on her mouth, then flashed a nervous smile to Cassandra "please, don't mind her, you look dashing in your Santa suit"

Once Cassandra was sure she wasn't hallucinating she looked at her red gloved hands in confusion

"I don't understand"

"It's okay, we will figure it out" Rapunzel had said taking her hands in hers, Cassandra smiled at her then was distracted by snowflakes slowly falling down the sky.

"It's snowing?" she had asked more to get confirmation of what she was seeing, but between the astonished looks on everyone else faces and the children trying to grab the snowflakes it was an unnecessary question.

"HO HO HOO!" everyone's head looked up the sky in disbelief as they saw a flying sled with reindeers coming towards them, an all too known figure at the reins.

Cassandra looked blankly at it with resignation.

She was indeed crazy after all.

"I am seeing Santa Clause and his reindeers coming towards us" Rapunzel said out aloud

"OMG it's true that's Santa!" several children were going nuts and soon adults were cheering.

The crowd parted to allow the sled to land, Cassandra watched as the joyful man greeted children and adult alike with a growing headache

"Cass, I am seeing him too" the princess reassured her with a kiss on her cheek, staying planted at Cassandra's side.

They hands locked together as an united fort.

Santa Clause made his way to the couple with a warm smile planted on his face

"Cassandra! I knew you would make it" he gave her one big hug, Cassandra could feel her spine cracking from the force but she never let go of Rapunzel's hand "you look so much better then the last time I saw you"

"wait...you were real?" she couldn't believe it, maybe she passed out and this was just an odd dream

"of course I was, but there was no point in trying to convince you, not when the Moonstone was overwhelming your emotions and Zhan Tiri had riled you up with lies and nightmares" the Princess gasped and clung closer to her girlfriend, who was stunned to silence.

"Did you say Zhan Tiri!?"

"Yea, she clung to her at the House of Yesterday tomorrow, I believe she took the form of a little girl"

Cassandra felt sick

"I think I need to sit down" and she did right where she stood, Rapunzel following suit and holding her close to her chest

"It's okay, it's a lot to take in and the Moonstone wasn't made for living beings" St Nicolas turned to Rapunzel "make sure she some rest and fed her well, I could feel her ribs from that hug" he was right, Cassandra seemed unhealthy thin since the Moonstone left her "Of course"

"Here! I believe you earned this!" Santa Clause produced his trademark hat from his pocket and put it on Cassandra's head "You will be officially the next Santa Clause when you reach the North Pole with your own sled"

"But I..." Cassandra gave a panicked look over to Rapunzel, who just gave her a sad smile.

They hearts sank knowing they will have to separate

"Ho Ho HOO! you don't need to go now, why do you think all Santa's are gray and old?" both woman looked at him "and you can bring guests" he had told them in a low tone as if he was giving them an huge secret then winked at them with a knowing smile.

Cassandra and Rapunzel smiled back at him, then looked at each other and kissed.

"Aww young love" St. Nicolas commented as he made his way back to his sled.

The lovely couple he left behind didn't separate even after he was long gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Zhan Tiri died to the Christmas Spirit.
> 
> Ps: Sorry I was mean to Eugene


End file.
